Marshall is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County in northeastern Texas in the United States. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. At the 2010 census, the population of Marshall was 23,523. The population of the Marshall Micropolitan Area, comprising all of Harrison County, was 65,631 in 2010.Marshall was a political and production center of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Later it was a major railroad center of the T&P Railroad from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century. Activists in the city's large African-American population worked to create social change through the Civil Rights Movement, with considerable support from the historically black colleges and universities here. The city is known for holding one of the largest light festivals in the United States, the "Wonderland of Lights", and, as the self-proclaimed "Pottery Capital of the World", for its sizable pottery industry.